[fullmetal]

No, I think Larry Scott still takes a lot of the blame.  He had a long tenure, and if he had started doing things the right way early on, compounded improvements could have placed the Pac-12 right behind the SEC.  Look at where Oregon and USC, potential blueblood dynasties, could have been had they received appropriate revenues and recruiting status (maybe even scheduling status with a better network deal).  Stanford over the last ten years might have been able to stave off decline with tens of millions of dollars more in revenue.  The failed attempt at creating a Pac-12 media standalone vertical ensured that network broadcast deals would generally fail to be competitive.  And the profligate spending...yeah no.

With Utah ascendant, imagine Stanford, Oregon, and USC holding top twenty rankings.  The Pac-12 would be in a great place to negotiate network deals, if not for the time zone difference.  (The needle that pops my balloon is that the majority of college football fandom eyeballs do not live west of the Mississippi...and that's where the money will be.)

[fullmetal]

No, I think Larry Scott still takes a lot of the blame.  He had a long tenure, and if he had started doing things the right way early on, compounded improvements could have placed the Pac-12 right behind the SEC.  Look at where Oregon and USC, potential blueblood dynasties, could have been had they received appropriate revenues and recruiting status (maybe even scheduling status with a better network deal).  Stanford over the last ten years might have been able to stave off decline with tens of millions of dollars more in revenue.  The failed attempt at creating a Pac-12 media standalone vertical ensured that network broadcast deals would generally fail to be competitive.  And the profligate spending...yeah no.

With Utah ascendant, imagine Stanford, Oregon, and USC holding top twenty rankings.  The Pac-12 would be in a great place to negotiate network deals, if not for the time zone difference.  (The needle that pops my balloon is that the majority of college football fandom eyeballs do not live west of the Mississippi...and that's where the money will be.)